IN
THE
WIND
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HONDA LOOKING AT DOUBLE
SUPERBIKE ASSAULT
H
onda is rumored to be
building two new super-
bikes, one based off the current
CBR1000RR Fireblade and a
new RVF1000 V4, based off the
road-going MotoGP replica, the
RC213V-S.
According to British publica-
tion, MCN, the upgraded 2017
Fireblade will be graced with
new electronics but will still be
based around its current road-
bike stature, and thus attract a
lower price tag. The RVF would
thus shoot straight to the head
of Honda's production superbike
table, and would be focused on
challenging the likes of the Ya-
maha YZF-R1M and Ducati Pani-
gale R, with a price tag rumored
to be north of $38,000.
Honda has gone as far as to
re-trademark the historic RVF
name, hinting the machine could
be closer to production than first
thought, although no date, indeed
no official confirmation of the ma-
chine's actual existence, has been
forthcoming from Honda.
In speaking with MCN's Andy
Downs, head of Honda's Re-
search and Design department
Tetsuo Suzuki, said, "There are
three projects which Honda has
raised and all of these are under
serious consideration at the mo-
ment. The superbike market has
changed a lot over the past few
years and we need to make sure
we take this into account in our
decisions.
"The three options open to us
include a new replacement for
the Fireblade, the RVF1000 and
also a cheaper version of the
RC213V-S. We will be studying
all three in parallel and all are
under serious consideration,
but it is likely there will be one or
perhaps two of the three options
made for production.
"In terms of the future of
the Fireblade we do not want
to make something that is as
extreme as some bikes, like the
Yamaha R1M for example. The
performance and concept (for
the Fireblade) is not aimed at
track riders; that's not the pur-
pose of the bike. The concept is
to have a usable road bike.
"As far as the possibility of an
RVF1000 that will be derived
from a cheaper version of the
RC213V-S platform and engine,
that is one possible path." CN
The Honda CBR1000RR
will head into its last
year in 2016 in its cur-
rent guise, for 2017 it'll
be new – sort of…
